WEST PARIS — Municipal officials in West Paris have received Maine School Administrative District 17’s Jan. 25 request, filed with the Maine Department of Education, to formally close Agnes Gray Elementary School.

SAD 17 initiated the official closure process back in October after the towns of Paris and West Paris jointly filed suit against the district, arguing it had not followed proper procedures for closing Agnes Gray.

Paris has since vacated the lawsuit, with SAD 17 having satisfied the town it had taken appropriate steps ahead of initiating the closure.

West Paris is now alone in its fight to save its century-plus tradition of educating its children in the town where they reside.

It has until next month to submit a rebuttal to SAD 17’s DOE filing. The next Select Board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 13 at 5 p.m.

West Paris students first attended Agnes Gray back in 1895 and continued until February of last year, when a published safety inspection report revealing the magnitude of the building’s life safety and infrastructure failures led to its abrupt closing.

Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris was closed last winter based on this report prepared by Portland architects LaVallee Brensinger, which showed numerous safety failures. The towns of West Paris and Paris are suing the Oxford Hills school district as a result. LaVallee Brensinger Architects

Agnes Gray had been placed on Maine’s priority list for school replacement in 2022. However, with the state building committee’s strategy of consolidating community schools to save money, SAD 17 has been under pressure to instead continue sending West Paris students to Paris Elementary School and instead build a centralized school that would replace elementary schools in Norway, Harrison and Waterford.

Accompanying SAD 17’s closure request was a cost analysis summary based on the 2022-2023 school year was provided, including breakout costs for Agnes Gray as recorded and what student expenditures would look like the school had been closed.

Total district expenses for that year were $46.05 million. Of that, Agnes Gray costs were calculated to be $1.47 million, or 3.2% of the total budget.

The analysis showed that student expenses without operating Agnes Gray would have been $429,254, with the district saving $1.04 million that year.

The analysis showed that staffing reductions would include a library ed tech, principal, custodian and kitchen manager, eight teachers, one special ed teacher and one special ed tech.

During 2022-2023 transportation expenses for Agnes Gray were $101,125. The analysis indicates the cost center would be eliminated, but student busing to Paris would presumably be applied to PES.

SAD 17 paid $204,454 for facilities costs, which combined operations and maintenance. The filing did not include a breakout for how much was spent on maintenance and repairs of the building, which was a long list that included peeled roofing and degraded heating and plumbing systems.

The district would see savings to facilities, staffing and instruction cost centers in the amount of $625,000, according to the Jan. 22 letter.

The request also refers to declining enrollment as a reason to close the school, which would be expounded over the next five years when sixth graders are integrated into Oxford Hills Middle School.

The enrollment issue is also being seen in Harrison and Waterford. Students of those towns attend Waterford Memorial School until second grade and transfer to Harrison Elementary School from third to sixth grade.

In Harrison the community’s response has been to establish an education options committee tasked with researching secession solutions that could include joining another district or becoming independent.

Waterford’s Select Board met with SAD 17 administrators Jan. 22 about what consolidation and closure impacts might be for its students. However, as of Tuesday officials have not publicly released details of that meeting.

As of 2024, estimates to make Agnes Gray habitable again run between $4 to $6 million. In addition to reversing years of deferred maintenance, the closure report also referenced adding life safety upgrades that the school has never had. Those issues include lack of compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act measures, noncompliance with modern egress requirements, lack of fire suppression and alarms.

If SAD 17 does not implement an elementary school consolidation plan, it will instead be faced with more than $20 million in repairs for all eight of its elementary schools over the next 10 years. It will require a bond referendum and be mostly funded by taxpayers.

Construction of a consolidated elementary school is estimated to be up to $70 million. If that plan is approved by voters in SAD 17’s eight sending towns, most of that is likely to be paid for with Maine DOE assistance.